Nairobi MCAs to probe alleged mismanagement, graft claims at City Mortuary

Nairobi County Assembly is set to begin a probe over alleged mismanagement at the Nairobi Funeral Home (City Mortuary).

This is after Ngei Ward MCA Redson Otieno through a statement alleged that the management of the facility is marred with cases of corruption amongst its employees especially those employed as casual labourers.

"It is further alleged that there are unknown bank accounts operated by the Management of the City Mortuary which are not accounted for by the County Executive," he said.

As a result, the Sectoral Committee on Health Services is required to inquire and report on the number of employees, both permanent and pensionable, and casual labourers at the City Mortuary from January 2022 to date.

Also, the committee should report on payments made to the casual labourers and their designations from January 2022 to date and show proof of payment to the workers.

"The Chairperson should inquire into and report on the bank accounts and signatories operated by the City Mortuary Management," reads the statement in part.

In addition to that, the committee should also report on the number of bodies received and released at the City Mortuary since January 2022 to date, as well as payments of the bodies released from the morgue and forms of payment made to the facility.

The city mortuary is managed by the Nairobi County Government.

Spotlight

The facility has been in the spotlight for the past two months when Kenya faced anti-government protests.

Casualties of the protests who were shot by the police were taken to the morgue where it was alleged that victims killed in demos were brought but were recorded at the City Mortuary as having died from totally different circumstances across several locations.

The mortuary was built in 1953 and has remained as Nairobi's main public morgue up to date.

The morgue has a capacity of 184 bodies but can even hold 350 due to unclaimed bodies which are mainly dumped there.

On March 26, 2024, when the Senate's Standing Committee on Health visited the facility, they were welcomed by shocking revelations.

The committee led by its chairman Jackson Mandago was first treated to a power blackout at the facility which then led to unearthing disturbing details about the facility.

Despite the power blackout, the Senator discovered that there was no backup generator in the facility that was built in 1953.

With no electricity, what awaited the Senators was a stench so strong that some could not walk into the cold rooms.

During the visit, the senators discovered that chemicals used for embalming were kept inside jerry cans which hung above every slab.

The next stop was the chemical store which the Senators said was untidy and had very old cages.

Some of the mortuary staff including interns interviewed by the senators, who didn't reveal their identity, claimed that all was not well at the morgue.